Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Roasted Coconut Lime Chicken that is to Thai-For!

Thai Roasted Chicken
Oh my God do I love the following: Thai food, lime, cilantro, chicken, coconut. So, when I found this recipe in Martha Stewart's Food Magazine, I had to try it because it contained all my favorites.

Now, first a confession.  I really, really don't want to like Martha Stewart.  In general, when I watch her show, I find her kind of unfriendly, a bit rude and brash with her guests, and her whole show and image seems a bit staged.  But, what I can't deny is this: as a publisher, she has an immaculate magazine that's filled with beautiful photography, great ideas, and not once has one of her recipes failed me.  Therefore, how can I fault her for that? 

I'm so sick of rushing out collecting ingredients for a recipe only to find the recipe lacks direction, taste, or simplicity.  I think many of these home magazines publish recipes without ever trying them.  Let me tell you, I would never do that to you!  If I publish something, it's because it's worth making again.  Hence, there are some weeks that I post no recipes.  That means it was a bad week of cooking at my house.  Other weeks, I've got recipes galore.

This recipe is no different.  Please try it!  It's simple, cheap, and one of the best chicken recipes I've ever made!

Roasted Coconut Lime Thai Chicken


Effort Meter (1 to 5): 2

Delicious Meter (1 to 5): 5
 
Serving Suggestion: Serve with plain jasmine rice (you can mix 1/2 jasmine with 1/2 brown rice for extra fiber), and a bed of raw Thai vegetables such as shredded carrots, green onions, white onions, cilantro, lime, and nuts.  I took the rice, topped with my veggies and squeezed lime and salt over the top, then topped with my chicken.  DELICIOUS!

Weight Watcher POINTS - About 6 points per leg, plus the rice is 3 points for 1/4C.


Ingredients:

One family-size package of bone-in, skin-on, chicken legs (or you can opt for another cut, or an entire chicken, just make sure it's of the skin-on variety...that's what holds in the juices).  These are extremely cheap, about $5.50 for a 10-pack.

2TBSP lime zest plus 1/4C lime juice (from two limes)

2TBSP ground ginger

4 cloves of minced garlic

2 TBSP of brown sugar

Salt (to taste)

1 can of coconut milk

Cooked jasmine rice, shredded carrots, chopped nuts, cilantro, onion, and lime (for serving suggestion)

Instructions:

In a large casserole pan or lasagna pan, combine lime, ginger, garlic, sugar, and about 1-1/2TSP of salt.  

Whisk in coconut milk.

Add chicken and toss in marinade.  Cover and refrigerate for 4 - 12 hours. 

Preheat oven to 475.  Cover a rimmed baking sheet or lasagna pan with foil.  Remove chicken from marinade and shake excess, then arrange on baking sheet, skin side up.  Roast about 30 - 35 minutes.  

Serve over bed of rice and vegetables.